- What was the inspiration for your book?
- Why are you passionate about this topic?
- What is the story behind your book?
- Who was this book written for?
- How do you want your book to impact people?
- Is there anything unique or special about your
book?
When I was sixteen years old, the Lord drew
my attention to Proverbs 4:23, which says, “Guard your
heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” As I
began to meditate on that verse, I realized that true purity had to mean more
than just practicing sexual abstinence, so I began to search the Scriptures,
seek the Lord for understanding and talk to teens and adults wherever I went. I
learned that emotions can’t be trusted, because no matter how much we may want
to believe them, they are deceptive and will get us into trouble. I also
realized that practicing sexual abstinence while engaging in premature emotional
intimacy is not true purity. When we fall into the trap of thinking that it is,
we begin the process of becoming ensnared by emotional promiscuity. We fail to
realize how easy (and dangerous) it is to give our hearts away long before we
give our bodies. The Bible reveals a higher standard for relationships than our
culture’s standard, because unlike in magazines and movies, true purity is not
connected merely to our sexuality, but to every part of our lives.
As a single young woman, it grieves me to
see so many young people making poor choices in relationships. Whether because
of sexual permissiveness or emotional promiscuity the pain and devastation
accompanying a broken heart can seem unbearable. In this day and age of
MySpace™, cell phones and Instant Messages, we’ve gotten so caught up in “Living
for the Moment” that we’ve forgotten to guard our most precious treasure – our
hearts. And, as a result, there is an entire generation of Christian young
people who are making a commitment to physical abstinence but who are practicing
emotional promiscuity. Playing with love is no laughing matter, no matter how
fun it might seem. We can’t afford to forget the dire warning of Jeremiah 17:9:
“The heart is deceitfully wicked.” We can’t rely on our hearts to lead us in the
right direction because we’ll get lost—every time. The only way to live in true
purity is to surrender every single part of our lives to Christ. This book will
not only help young people learn the secret of guarding their hearts, but that
it will also challenges teens to strive toward Christ-centered relationships.
As a Christian teenager, I remember reading
all the dating/relationship books and feeling like something was missing. Like
so many others, I used to think that purity was about sex. I thought that if I
stayed a virgin until I got married, I’d be pure. Then I found Proverbs 4:23 and
everything fell into place. I realized that true purity is not connected merely
to our sexuality, but to every part of our lives. Purity has to do with movies
we watch, books we read, clothes we wear, friends we hang out with, words we
say, places we go, people we date and things we do. Purity has to do with how we
think, what we nurture inside our hearts and how we express our passions and
desires. Purity has to do with refusing to give our hearts to people who aren’t
worthy to be entrusted with such a precious gift, and instead waiting for the
man or woman who will spend their entire life cherishing us with godly, tender
affection. True purity is not trying to see how close we can get to the line,
but seeing how close we can get to God. The bottom line is that purity is more
than just a word; it’s a commitment, a promise, and a choice to guard your
heart.
This book was written for Christian teenagers who are looking for answers to
the age-old question, “How can a young person stay pure?” (Ps. 119:9). This book
not only provides the answer to that poignant question, but gives young people
the secret of guarding their hearts and will teach them how to set emotional
boundaries in their relationships and give them the necessary tools for making
decisions regarding purity, love, and romance.
It is my hope that this book
will give teens and young adults the tools to enter future relationships with
their eyes wide open to the importance of living in true purity and guarding
their most important treasure – their hearts. It is my
prayer that it will help young people to live a
life of no regrets, steer clear of the emotional roller coaster and avoid the
heartbreak of emotional promiscuity.
While many authors have written about the subject of dating, Eyes Wide Open
is unique because it approaches the topic from the aspect of emotional
purity in relationships. Building a relationship on feelings—no matter how
exciting they are—is a recipe for disaster, and yet that is precisely what we do
when we jump headfirst into a relationship without stopping to consider the
possible ramifications. The bottom line is that when we indulge in emotional
promiscuity, we’re putting ourselves on an emotional roller coaster that it can
be very painful to get off. But it doesn’t have to be that way! We each hold
something very special: the key to our heart. God longs to help us protect it,
because our hearts are precious to Him, and He doesn’t want us to give them away
to just anyone. In this book, I offer practical advice from a young person’s
perspective about what it means to guard your heart and share from my own
personal experience with relationships about how to safeguard your emotions
while living a life of purity.
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